Who knew the toughest test of Ravens training camp would come right at the end?

The challenge: Watch the video of GM Eric DeCosta telling three undrafted free agents that they made the Ravens’ 53-man roster and try to hold back the tears.

The end of August is brutal for NFL front office people, who, like the players they sign, need to cut down their weight. But, every year for the Ravens, there is a bright spot — inevitably a feel-good story that is the gridiron version of a Hallmark movie, football’s spin on a tearjerker. In 21 of the last 22 seasons, the Ravens have kept at least one.

This season, there are three: cornerback Keyon Martin, safety Reuben Lowery III and linebacker Jay Higgins IV. And, if you see their reactions to making the team, you’ll quickly understand why the Ravens keep spinning off sequels in this heartwarming series.

Of all the reactions that stand out, Higgins’ is memorable because of his struggle to stand. The 230-pound linebacker, who was an All-American at Iowa, found his legs wobbling as he embraced DeCosta in the GM’s office, then he bent at the waist to collect his breath.

“I was lightheaded — lightheaded for sure,” Higgins recounted sheepishly. “When he told me, I was just really surprised. You hear your dream come true, and you’re standing up, I guess my legs were locked out, so I should have had a slight bend in the knee, so I did that wrong.”

While Higgins was doubled over as surprise took his breath away, Martin found a weight lifting from his shoulders. When he was called to DeCosta’s office, he naturally assumed he was getting cut. “Everybody knows about those tough conversations. I thought that’s what I was going up there for.”

If you watched the Ravens the last month and change, however, you saw plenty of signs that all three could be sticking around. The common theme of the underdog stories of roster cut-down day were that Martin, Lowery and Higgins were consistently finding their way to the ball.

All of them picked off at least one pass. Higgins got a sack against the Colts, while Martin notched a safety in Dallas. Lowery picked off a pass in the end zone against the Cowboys, and Martin took a pick all the way to the end zone against the Commanders.

Each of the three is skilled at something different, but all three share traits that are Ravens hallmarks: anticipation, physicality and relentlessness. Somehow, three undrafted free agents made it onto an experienced, Super Bowl-caliber roster that also added 11 draft picks this spring.

DeCosta claimed that, until Tuesday, he was fielding calls from rival teams to trade for some of these players, validating the evaluation his staff had made that these guys could play ball. He was a little surprised that his front office missed the mark on them when they were in the draft. He didn’t want to whiff a second time.

“We didn’t expect it, for sure,” he said. “I think these guys, just when you think about the games, I mean you look at those guys and look at what they did, the production, the big plays and just the consistency. How could they not be on the team?”

Frankly, it brings a needed bright note to a camp that was low on intrigue and stakes. This roster is widely considered to be among the best in the NFL, with solidified names in the top spots of the depth chart. The biggest question mark — who would replace kicker Justin Tucker — was all but answered by the second week when Tyler Loop was the only candidate left on the roster.

Of course the decisions don’t come in a vacuum, and in one sense the push for UDFAs reflects how cap-conscious the Ravens have to be. Third-year corner Jalyn Armour-Davis was also an exciting playmaker this preseason, looking for a shot at making an impact in the last year of his contract, if only he could stay healthy. But DeCosta acknowledged that it made more sense for Baltimore to go with rookies it can keep under team control longer.

With their salary cap under intense pressure in the coming years thanks to contract extensions like Kyle Hamilton’s, the Ravens will continue to turn toward youth at the supporting positions. For every big deal they sign, it might mean a tough goodbye down the road. It stands out that the Ravens ended camp without extending Tyler Linderbaum or Isaiah Likely, two players who could be free agents next offseason.

While Rashod Bateman signed another extension this year, Zay Flowers could soon be too expensive to keep if he continues on his Pro Bowl trajectory. Lamar Jackson feels destined to be a Raven for life, but he needs to restructure his contract (with a $74.5 million cap hit in 2026) for Baltimore to make contending moves around him next year.

But none of this means that the undrafted guys are some kind of consolation roster spot winners. They had to earn it through cutthroat competition. Higgins was one of the team’s most consistent linebackers throughout the summer, while Martin and Lowery showed how their instincts might make up for the measurables that left them undrafted.

Lowery and Martin bonded over their humble entry to the Ravens — neither received a signing bonus (Martin was a tryout player at minicamp, a particularly unlikely candidate for a roster spot). But what they had in common were work ethic and a deep belief that, if their NFL careers could happen anywhere, it would be Baltimore.

“Honestly, every single day, they harped on in the meetings, ‘You have to earn it,’ and I truly believe that,” Lowery said. “The way they treat everybody here is that exact same way. If you’re the highest-paid player, [or] if you’re the lowest on the depth chart, you have to earn everything that you have, and that’s what you love. That’s the beauty of this organization.”

The real beauty of the journey reached a crescendo Tuesday, when the UDFA players called their parents, eliciting a few exuberant shrieks over the phone.

On the days when Higgins saw his draft stock take hits after the NFL combine, he doubted his own future in football — but his father, Roy Higgins, who has been his unbridled cheerleader since his middle school basketball days, kept telling him he would find a way on a team.

“I was having real conversations with myself after the draft — if football’s in my future, if I need to go do something else,” he said. “But, if you would’ve asked him after the draft, he knew this day was going to happen. So, just knowing I’ve got a father like that in my corner, I think that’s what the video showed.”

It’s the kind of celebration that doesn’t even need to be spoken. Lowery and Martin saw each other on the staircase outside the facility after visiting DeCosta. Wordlessly, they saw their joyful expressions, then barreled in for a hug.

“It was like a movie moment, honestly, but it was awesome,” Lowery said. “It was awesome.”

This movie? Two thumbs up.